Dpak

Hello all !Good to see an Indian community here I am from Hyderabad. I googled for a few guides on starting up, but none easy enough for me ! Recently I passed my engineering with Computer-Science background, with an unknown fear of electornics

Got to come across Arduino, while working on http://mqtt.org/ ; and find the applications exciting. I am good with the programming part, but can't guess :1. What hardware to buy ? What is the minimal kit I should start with ? If possible, please suggest where to buy too... reading all about the types of boards is deviating my efforts.2. I tried 2 simulators for checking the basic "LED blinking" examples - but none got working. Should I spend more time on simulator, or I should move to hardware ?3. Is there a chance that I blow up the Arduinos while learning ? (I need to prepare myself financially for this)

In summary, I want to have a quick start with Arduino, with results to keep me motivated.

Thanks !

karthikreddy

Hmmm. in hyderabad u can't get an arduino but you may order an UNO from one of the websites from site and u can get a shield in gujrathi galli roland and also an induino (a cheap arduino*not preferrable) if u need any help here u are free to ask me check this link out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCxzA9_kg6s&feature=relmfuand follow it.......... soon u may find arduino in hyd also let's seee

pracas

@dpak... burning is a part of the learning process... you can never graduate without frying a few chips and get a few hot iron touches by mistake you can also check out http://arduinoindia.com@karthikreddy... Any reasons for "also an induino (a cheap arduino*not preferrable)" ... Well the InduinoX is as much Arduino as the Arduino only made in India for Indian conditions employing Indian Resources... Check for a detailed step by step guide using the InduinoX... http://www.induino.com

What exactly do you mean by "official clones"? According to the Arduino FAQ at http://arduino.cc/en/Main/FAQ,

Quote

Which are the official Arduino boards?The official Arduino boards are the ones listed on the hardware page. These are boards whose manufacturers work with the Arduino team to ensure a good user experience, compatibility with the Arduino software, and a quality product. In return for their status as official boards, the manufacturers pay a licensing fee to the Arduino team to support the further development of the project.In general, we restrict use of the name "Arduino" to the official boards. If you find a product under a different name but described as "Arduino compatible", it's probably not an official board and doesn't fund continued work on the project.

If yours is an official Arduino, it should be listed in the hardware page. Otherwise, you should respect the hard work of the Arduino team and their generosity in making the project open-source. In this case your board might be "Arduino compatible", but you should remove the word "official".

I'm happy to discuss this further to make sure everyone, including you, receives the respect and credit to which they are entitled.

lynxgeek

I am eager to learn the embedded systems and combining them with mobile technologies .... I am a Software developer working on mobile applications on different platforms(Android,Blackberry). Just want o buy on Arduino board and start exploring it.. Can any one suggest me with which i need to start...

There are a couple of options when you'd like to go for integrating SmartPhones and Electronics (read Arduino). Broadly, Wireless and Wired. Wireless would be very easy as you can easily interface a bluetooth module with and Arduino and have the SmartPhone sending/receiving commands with/to the Arduino. For trying this out, a basic Arduino UNO will suffice.

If you're interested in a wired (USB Host connection), I'd recommend you get yourself an Arduino ADK Mega board that will allow your Phone to send/receive commands through the USB port. Do note that all Android versions donot support the Android Accessory feature (most upwards of Honeycomb will and also 2.3.7, I've a Nexus 1 on which I've tested this).